The following scene is an example of a consultation between a respiratory nurse and a mum of a child with asthma who is having problems getting her child to take inhalers. Respiratory nurses can give lots of tips about your child’s asthma.
It is your responsibility to make sure the school is fully aware of your child’s condition and they have the necessary medication at school. It is your responsibility to make sure medication is in school, fully labelled and still within use by date. Make sure you have signed the appropriate form to enable the medicine […]
Children with asthma should be easily identified, for example on the class register. Asthma education for staff members should be offered. An asthma healthcare plan or flowchart should be completed for individual children with asthma. A reliever inhaler and spacer for each child should be easily available for use in an emergency (not in a […]
Occasionally your child may be admitted to hospital if they are very wheezy, their oxygen levels are low or they need help with their feeding. The nurses will make regular observations of your child’s temperature, heart rate, breathing and oxygen levels. Your child may be given extra oxygen if their levels of oxygen are low. […]
There are specific techniques for using inhalers with or without spacer devices depending on the age of your child and the prescribed inhaler they are given. It is very important to follow the specific instructions about how to use the inhalers as given by the doctor, nurse or pharmacist. It is useful to have a […]
Your doctor or nurse may prescribe another type of inhaler which is usually brown in colour and taken every day even when your child is well. This inhaler is often referred to as a preventer inhaler and belongs to a group of medicines called steroids. Steroid inhalers reduce inflammation inside your child’s airways. This is […]
Your doctor or nurse may prescribe an inhaler called Salbutamol. Salbutamol belongs to a group of medications called ‘bronchodilators’, these are usually blue in colour and often referred to as ‘reliever’ inhalers. This inhaler contains a medicine to relax or open the airways and relieve the wheezy symptoms. Important It is important this medicine is […]
Here are some of the percentages showing how much (or how little) of the inhaled medicine you get using different devices You will see that with both spacers you get up to 6o or 85% of the medicine into your child’s lungs. that means that you lose approx 15 – 40% of the medicine from […]
A spacer is a chamber where the medicine is held. Only use one dose of medicine at a time. The inhaler is fitted to it and the number of “puffs” go in to the spacer so it can be taken during several breaths rather than in one big breath. You may need to repeat the […]
